Little Talks
by FrostShadowStar
Summary: Steven came back. Lars did not.
1. Steven

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

Whoever was on the other side of her door had to be trying to sell her something. Sadie couldn't imagine anybody coming over to her house for any other reason.

Steeling herself to inform the salesperson to try another house, Sadie opened her door and froze.

On her doorstep was one of the last people she thought she'd see again. She should hug him. Or shake him for doing something so _boneheadedly_ stupid.

Instead, she stood there staring at him like an idiot. A gem monster could crash through her house and she doubted she'd react to it.

"…. _Steven_?"

"H-Hi Sadie…"

Sadie peered over him in case the other person who'd got taken to space was hiding somewhere behind him.

"Where's Lars?"

Something hard and cold jabbed itself into her heart as Steven _**flinched**_ at Lars name.

"T-There's something I have to tell you."

Steven Universe. The kid who always came into the Big Doughnut with the biggest smile on his face. Who always had some corny joke. Who could always find the bright side in anything-had come to tell her Lars was dead.

Sadie closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her door wide enough for Steven to come through.

"Why don't you…why don't you come in a-and tell me what happened."

Steven just nodded as he quietly entered her home.

…

They were in her room. Both sitting on her bed, right next to each other but the heavy silence between them was enough to make it feel as if they were a world apart.

Seeing Steven this quiet hurt nearly as much as the knowage the Lars was dead. Sadie couldn't imagine how hard it must be for him to figure out a way to express what had to have been a horrifying thing to witness.

He hadn't been able to watch a horror movie but he had had to watch a friend die.

Swallowing, Sadie forced a small smile. She couldn't make this talk easier, but maybe she could ease them into it.

"So, how'd you get home? Did the Gems fly a spaceship and get you?"

"No. I got home through Lars."

Shit.

That made things even worse then. The idiot had probably gotten killed sacrificing himself to get Steven home.

If Lars wasn't already dead and on some alien planet, she'd smack him.

"Oh. Uh-"

"He was _awesome_! Lars and I had escaped from the diamonds-they're the ones who want to kill me, well my mom, but they think I'm my mom-and we ran into some other gems who were in hiding. And everything was going okay until these robots came in to shatter everyone but Lars _**saved**_ us cuz he doesn't have a gem so the robots couldn't see him and…"

Steven trailed off as he gazed at the carpet.

It was such a 180 from the excited rambling from just a couple of minutes ago to…. _this_ that Sadie didn't know what else to do but pull Steven into a hug.

This had to be the moment Lars had died. He's found his courage and he'd…

"…He….jumped on top of the last of those robots and….. stabbed it with some rubble a-and it blew up while he was still….." Steven sniffed and she rubbed his back.

"You don't have to tell me anymore."

"I do. I promised him I would." Steven took a deep breath. "He…. fell. There was this big spire of rock and he hit it. A few times."

Sadie closed her eyes. Lars was a jerk. But he didn't deserve to die like that. She opened her mouth to say something comforting when something Steven said earlier hit her.

"Steven…how did Lars get you home if he went through all…that?"

For the first time since he'd came over, Steven avoided her gaze.

"Steven?"

"Sadie I'm really really sorry. I didn't mean to, it just happened, I-"

" _What happened Steven_?"

Steven clenched the sheets on her bed before relaxing his grip. "I-I brought him back to life." He mumbled.

"…What?"

"I brought him back to life!" Steven wailed and not for the first time, Sadie was glad she lived alone.

"So…he's a… _ **zombie**_ now?"

Steven violently shook his head. "He's got a heartbeat. It's just…. really slow now. But he's still the same Lars. Mostly."

" _Mostly_?"

"He's pink and like Lion where I can….travel through his hair…to a….magic dimension. That's how I got home…H-He insisted…"

"…Are you mad at me?"

"What?! No! I'm just-" Sadie sighed. "It's…a lot to process. That's all. I'm not mad Steven. Promise. I just wish I could see him again."

Steven was quiet for a moment.

"I could…help you see him. I'd have to ask him if was okay, but I could…take him to you. Maybe. I-I don't know if regular humans can go through that dimension-I think so but-"

"Steven."

He looked up at her and it broke her heart to see him looking so dejected.

"I'd love to give it a try."

And for the first time since he'd come over, he gave her a sincere smile. Just like he did before this whole crazy stupid mess with kidnapping gems started.


	2. Lars

Steven had told her he'd be pink. That he'd be the exact same hue as Lion. She'd been prepared.

But seeing it in person was different than knowing.

And he had a scar. She wished Steven had warned her, but it had either slipped his mind or...that had been the killing blow.

"H-Hey Sadie. Long time no see, right?"

She gave him a small smile. Leave it to Lars to open a conversation so awkwardly.

"Hey Steven; could Lars and I have a moment alone?"

"OH! Uh yeah! Sure! I'll just go catch up with the Off-Colors. Let me know when you're ready to go!"

Sadie watched Steven run off. It was nice seeing him act like the kid he was again. He'd been running back and forth between the Crystal Gems, Homeworld, and her house so often that she'd been wondering if he'd been giving himself any time to destress.

She'd barely opened her mouth to say something when he spoke first. "C'mon, we should go somewhere a bit more...private. Gems have _really_ good hearing. Fluorite in particular."

Lars led her to a smallish cave-like indention before sitting next to her.

"I'm sorry."

Sadie blinked. Out of everything Lars could have said, those were the last two words she'd thought she'd ever hear him say.

"For what?" She tried to say jokingly. Cuz that's what it had to be. A joke. A really lame and awful joke but a joke none the le-

"For a lot of things. I was a jerk. Took you-everything-for granted. I didn't even help you when you needed my help the most. If I was you, I would have been _furious_."

"Oh Lars..." she sighed."I wasn't mad at you for running away from Topaz. Disappointed yeah, but not... _mad_. It was a lot to ask."

"I still should have tried and not run away like a coward." he grumbled.

Sadie shot him a small smile as she gave him a shove. "It's okay. Honest. Truthfully, I was more upset that you stayed on the ship."

She waited for him to smirk back and apologize for that too, but to her surprise, he _didn't_.

"...Lars?"

"I regret a lot of things. There's a bunch of stuff I'd do over in a heartbeat. But staying on that ship? Coming to Homeworld? I'd do that all over again."

Lars groaned at her dumbstruck expression. "It's not like that whole experience _didn't_ suck. It fucking _did_ and easily up there on my 'worst-decisions-of-my-life' list but-" he sighed "Steven needed me."

Sadie didn't know what to say to that.

"...We actually managed to find a way in route to coming here. We probably could have made it, but Steven...wouldn't have come with." A hard bitter laugh escaped him. "It took me turning into some kind of weird wormhole-zombie-gem- _thing_ for him to get off this planet."

Sadie _really_ didn't know what to say to that.

God.

It was a lot to process.

"Sorry."

Sadie shot him a confused look.

"I shouldn't have...dumped all of... _that_ on you."

"No, no, it's fine. Really. It's actually kinda...nice...that you're being so open about stuff?"

Lars snorted.

"No really it is! If this stuff is bothering you, you should talk about it!"

"I guess..." he sighed "This...isn't how I wanted this to go."

"How did you want this to go?"

"I dunno! Just, better? I guess? Small talk maybe?" Lars groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Not...y'know" he mumbled.

"Yeah. To be honest, I thought things we'd be a little different too."

"Oh yeah?"

Sadie gave him a small smile. "Yeah. I thought things would kinda still be like how they were before Topaz and Aquamarine grabbed us. I'd come here, try to talk you, you'd be a butt and avoid like, any actual conversation and I'd just go home mad again."

To her relief, he laughed a little at that. It wasn't bitter like earlier or the sort of mean, hard kind he used to do back home, but the sort of nice, light laugh he had when he was just enjoying himself. The sort of laugh that might as well be a unicorn with how often she heard it.

"That bad huh? God, how on Earth did you put up with me back home?"

"I dunno Lars. Maybe I'm just a big sucker for that ube roll you make."

He leaned back and laughed at that. "I've only made that for you like, once. Right before this whole mess started. I was a jerk long before then."

Sadie shrugged. "It was really good Lars. Like 'through the powers of space and time' good. One look at you, and I just knew, 'he makes a _great_ ube roll. Stick with him for the ube roll'"

Lars snickered. "Can't argue with that I guess."

Somewhere during the conversation, the two had gravitated closer together and Sadie found herself leaning against his chest.

He was a bit colder than she remembered and his heart beat was god achingly slow but, it was nice. This was nice.

Being with him again. Talking. He was okay.

Different, but okay.

They'd have to work some stuff out. Talk more. Good god would there have to be more talks, she had a feeling the bit he'd said earlier was just the tip of the iceberg. But they'd get through it. Together.

For now though, they were just fine enjoying each other's company.


End file.
